Origin of the surname Russell |
| There are many families named Russell and
they are not necessarily related. The original Russells were not of Irish stock. The surname "Russell" began to appear in Irish records after the Anglo-Norman invasion and is now numerous in Ulster and Leinster. It is derived from an old French word denoting a red-haired person and is also an anglicized form of the French Protestant surname, Rossel. See Edward MacLysaght, "The Surnames of Ireland." Dublin: Irish University Press, 1973, p 263. |